A recent article in the Hamilton County Herald documents the historical treasurers that can be found in the office of Chattanooga lawyer Russell Fowler. As a student, teacher and lover of history, Fowler has created a personal museum at Legal Aid of East Tennessee, where he serves as director of litigation. His collection includes many signatures of justices and jurists, including that of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, who dissented in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. He also has a number of items related the chancery court in the United States and England, including the robe of late Shelby County Chancellor Neal Small. “During a time when people are digitizing everything from contracts to signatures, Russell Fowler is something of a modern-day Indiana Jones, a raider of the lost art of putting pen to paper,” the herald concludes. Fowler writes a regular column "History's Verdict" for the Tennessee Bar Journal.

Tennessee Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, tells the Tennessee Star that his bill to remove a $400 annual “privilege tax” imposed on certain professions, including the legal profession, is still in play but likely will see changes as budget negotiations continue in the coming weeks. Stevens told the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Revenue Subcommittee last week that any decrease in state revenue resulting from SB 884 would have to be offset by programming cuts. The privilege tax was originally levied on 22 professions. The General Assembly approved legislation in 2019 to eliminate the tax for 15 of those. Nearly 200,000 professionals still pay the tax. Total elimination of the tax would cost the state about $67 million in revenue, Stevens said. The TBA has made eliminating the professional privilege tax one of its most important legislative priorities and is continuing to lobby the General Assembly on this issue. Legislators need to hear from their constituents that eliminating this discriminatory tax is important to them. Find your legislators and their contact info here.

The U.S. Supreme Court last Thursday made it easier for businesses to annoy consumers with phone calls or text messages when it rejected a lawsuit accusing Facebook Inc. of violating a federal anti-robocall law. Facebook argued that the texts contained security-related messages tied to a user’s account and cell phone number and therefore were not covered by the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The court ruled unanimously for Facebook saying the messages did not fit within the technical definition of the type of conduct barred by the law, Reuters reports. Privacy advocates criticized the ruling, saying any company could steer clear of liability under the law as long as they use similar technology.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a legal malpractice suit against Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, Bloomberg Law reports. John Shufeldt, the former CEO of NextCare Holdings Inc., filed suit against the urgent care company claiming it rendered his company stock worthless after he resigned. Shufeldt hired Baker Donelson to represent him but later claimed that the firm failed to tell him about an applicable statute of limitations. Shufeldt ultimately settled with NextCare for $2 million but is now suing the law firm. At issue in the court of appeals decision was whether Shufeldt’s argument in the case against NextCare — that the case was timely — contradicted his argument in the case against Baker Donelson that it was not. The appeals court found that the trial court in the NextCare case did not accept that argument when it denied a motion to dismiss by the company, and that the executive’s participation in the case did not give him an unfair advantage in suing Baker Donelson.

The U.S. legal sector lost 1,400 jobs in March, with total headcount dropping 0.12% month-over-month to 1,127,600, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. The slight decline in legal sector job count — which includes law firm lawyers and staff, but not in-house lawyers at non-law companies — reverses a trend of growth that has held fairly steady since the pandemic began, Reuters reports.

Nashville nonprofit leader Odessa Kelly today announced plans to challenge longtime U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, in the August 2022 party primary. Kelly has the support of Justice Democrats, the national organization that helped elevate “The Squad” — a group of left-leaning members of the House of Representatives. She is the first candidate to be endorsed by the group for the 2022 cycle and would be the first openly gay Black woman to represent Tennessee in the nation’s capital. Cooper, who has represented the 5th Congressional District since 2003, has developed a reputation as a moderate Democrat, the Nashville Scene reports.

The TBA is hosting a virtual roundtable discussion on April 16 at noon CDT to explore what the post-pandemic law office will look like. The free program will look at how lawyers shifted their practices during the pandemic, what is next for the practice of law, if virtual will be the future of the modern law office, and if tele-legal will become the new tele-medicine. Jennifer McGlone, co-founder, CLO and president of legal technology company LawChamps, and Maxine Kozler Koven, a venture capitalist and LawChamps investor, will talk about the latest trends and take questions from attendees. Sign up here to join the conversation! Have questions for the panelists? Submit them in advance to Jennifer Vossler.

Longtime Nashville lawyer Stephen Eugene Cox died March 3. He was 77. After graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1970, Cox moved to Nashville where he practiced as a trial attorney and later a mediator. During his career he worked for Manier & Herod and then Cox, LeVan, Sprader & Patton. He was active in the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association and American Board of Trial Advocates, serving as president of that group's Tennessee chapter. From 2004 to 2008, he served as a member of the state Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Commission. Cox retired in 2014 and moved to Knoxville. His son, Stephen Eugene Cox Jr., is an attorney with Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated in Nashville. A riverside service will take place in Knoxville on April 10. A memorial service will be held April 17 in Nashville. Details are posted online. Donations may be made to the USO, P.O. Box 96860, Washington, D.C., 20077.

The TBA Intellectual Property Section is presenting a two-day virtual program for its 2021 Annual Forum. “Taking IP Law Back to the Future” launches on April 15 with sessions on saving your patent from Section 101, conflicting local patent rules and maintaining professionalism and ethics in a post-COVID practice. Day two kicks off on April 22 with sessions on copyright protection for utilitarian works, trademark updates for 2021 and non-fungible crypto tokens. Each day’s programming will run from 12:45 to 4 p.m. CDT with a virtual happy hour at 4 p.m. Register for Day 1 only, Day 2 only or the full two-day program.

The Knoxville Bar Association will hold its Spring Memorial Service on May 14 beginning at noon EDT on Zoom. The service will honor 17 lawyers who have died in the last 15 months, including former TBA President and federal judge Pamela Reeves. KBA President Cheryl Rice, Rev. Charles Fels and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee will participate. See the full list of lawyers to be honored and register to receive the log on instructions here.